{"id":8576,"date":"2021-12-07T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.neighbor.com\/storage-blog\/?p=8171"},"modified":"2024-01-29T17:08:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T00:08:47","slug":"moving-to-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neighbor.com\/storage-blog\/moving-to-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving to Los Angeles: Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Each year, Los Angeles welcomes 50 million visitors — and not all of them are just on sunny vacation. On both the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Los Angeles city and county grew their populations, showing Southern California is a popular place that lots of people are interested in calling home.<\/p>\n

There are so many reasons to consider moving to Los Angeles: The area’s many colleges and universities, its booming industries, the fantastic weather, or to pursue a dream of working in the entertainment industry, which has its unofficial world headquarters in LA.<\/p>\n

But when moving to California, there’s much to consider. Read on for the ultimate guide to moving to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

9 Things to Know About Moving to Los Angeles<\/h2>\n

Thinking about moving to Los Angeles? Here are nine things to know about the City of Angels and Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

Population<\/h3>\n

Los Angeles is a big<\/em> city. Huge, even.<\/p>\n

It’s more populous than dozens of entire U.S. states. It’s home to more people than hundreds of entire countries around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

As of the 2020 census, nearly 4 million people called LA home, making this the second-largest city (and second-most populous city) in the U.S., behind only New York City. Angelenos live in a sprawling urban megalopolis that spans 467 square miles — about 10 times the size of San Francisco, and 50% larger than all of NYC’s five boroughs combined.<\/p>\n

The good news is that even with its population of 3,898,747, the sheer size of the city means population density is lower in LA than much of the East Coast and many other major cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago.<\/p>\n

But LA doesn’t always mean just the city proper. Another 6 million people call Los Angeles County home, either in one of its 87 cities or in unincorporated parts of the county. The combined population of the entire Los Angeles metro area is 10,014,069, making it the most populous county in the U.S. by an almost 2-1 margin.<\/p>\n

Cost of living<\/h3>\n

There’s no sugarcoating it: LA is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., living expenses here are on the rise — the consumer price index in LA has risen by about 5% in 2021.<\/p>\n

GOBankingRates crunched the numbers<\/a> and found that to live comfortably in Los Angeles, you’d need to earn a minimum of $136,208 as a renter, or $150,392 as a homeowner (assuming you spend 50% on necessities, 30% on discretionary spending, and 20% on savings). That’s well above the city’s median household income of $62,142<\/p>\n

Median household income<\/h4>\n

\"Median<\/p>\n

But according to Census figures, the median household income in Los Angeles is just $62,142. The median household income for Los Angeles county as a whole is slightly higher, at $68,044. Both are fairly comparable to the national median household income of $62,843.<\/p>\n

Cost of living comparison<\/h4>\n

Here’s how LA’s cost of living compares to other cities across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nHousing<\/strong><\/td>\nFood and Groceries<\/strong><\/td>\nTransportation<\/strong><\/td>\nHealthcare<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
City<\/td>\n% higher or lower than national average<\/td>\n% higher or lower than national average<\/td>\n% higher or lower than national average<\/td>\n% higher or lower than national average<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Los Angeles<\/strong><\/td>\n73.3% higher<\/strong><\/td>\n4.1% higher<\/strong><\/td>\n65.3% higher<\/strong><\/td>\n10.6% lower<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
San Francisco<\/td>\n496.2% higher<\/td>\n16.6% higher<\/td>\n58.2% higher<\/td>\n14.9% higher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
New York City<\/td>\n194.3% higher<\/td>\n16.6% higher<\/td>\n81.1% higher<\/td>\n27.6% higher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chicago<\/td>\n0.9% lower<\/td>\n2.8% lower<\/td>\n38.5% higher<\/td>\n12% lower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phoenix, AZ<\/td>\n3.5% higher<\/td>\n2.7% lower<\/td>\n17.9% higher<\/td>\n7.5% lower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Orlando, FL<\/td>\n6.1% higher<\/td>\n0.7% higher<\/td>\n10.1% higher<\/td>\n3.4% higher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Houston, TX<\/td>\n19.8% lower<\/td>\n1.9% lower<\/td>\n19% higher<\/td>\n4.9% lower<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oklahoma City<\/td>\n43.8% lower<\/td>\n5.3% lower<\/td>\n4.5% lower<\/td>\n6.2% higher<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

*Percentages shown as higher or lower than the national average cost as of September 2021.<\/em><\/p>\n

Compare Los Angeles’s cost of living to your current home city’s using this online calculator<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Should you rent or buy a home in Los Angeles?<\/h4>\n

46% of housing in LA County is owner-occupied, showing there are more people in Los Angeles who rent the homes they live in than own them.<\/p>\n

The decision of whether to rent or buy really comes down to each family’s personal situation, and will be influenced by factors like income, the area where you’d like to live, the housing market at the time of your move, and more.<\/p>\n

Though home prices in LA County tend to be very high, there are some incentives to encourage homeownership in the area. California’s landmark property tax law sets taxes at just 1% of purchase prices, with a stipulation that they can never increase more than 2% in a year — a rate less than the national average for yearly inflation. This means that the longer a Californian stays in their home, the lower their property taxes will be relative to inflation.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles has also taken steps to make it easy for homeowners to turn their property into extra income streams. In March 2021, the city announced plans<\/a> to provide pre-approved designs for rentable accessory dwellings, which speeds up the permitting process for Angelenos who want to build one.<\/p>\n

Average rental prices in Los Angeles<\/h4>\n

These are city-wide averages for rental units, but keep in mind that actual rental prices can vary depending on the part of the city where you want to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Studio apartment<\/strong><\/td>\n$1,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
One-bedroom apartment<\/strong><\/td>\n$2,150<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Two-bedroom apartment<\/strong><\/td>\n$2,900<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Three-bedroom apartment<\/strong><\/td>\n$4,350<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Prices accurate as of September of 2021. Source: Zumper.com<\/em><\/p>\n

Rent increases are tempered somewhat by Los Angeles County’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance<\/a> that limits the amount landlords can annually increase rents and ties increases to the consumer price index. <\/em><\/p>\n

Average home prices in Los Angeles<\/h4>\n

\"Average<\/p>\n

Homes in Los Angeles are more expensive than in much of the country.<\/p>\n

Between 2015 and 2019, the average home price was $583,200 in Los Angeles County and $636,900 within LA city limits. The national average for that time period was $217,500.<\/p>\n

The pandemic-fueled run on housing has affected Los Angeles. This year, the national average sold price for a home reached $375,000, while in Los Angeles, it climbed to a record $750,000.<\/p>\n

Homelessness in Los Angeles<\/h4>\n

It’s impossible for a guide to Los Angeles to gloss over the city’s issue with homelessness.<\/p>\n

One out of every 14 people experiencing homelessness in the United States can be found in LA, with 41,290 people experiencing it in the city during a 2020 count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. That’s equal to about 1% of the city’s population and a rate of homelessness around six times higher than national averages.<\/p>\n

Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis could be getting worse, with the Los Angeles Mission noting<\/a>, “There are more people becoming homeless for the first time now than any time in Los Angeles’ history.”<\/p>\n

Economy and major industries<\/h3>\n

The greater Los Angeles area boasts a GDP of just over $960 billion, making it the second-largest economy in the U.S. (behind only New York City), and one of the largest economies in the entire world.<\/p>\n